Daughter of the Fire
by Ralindir
Summary: Children of the Red King fanfic. Charlie Bone finds an endowed girl in his front garden. She has no memory of where she came from. TancredOC and possibly CharlieEmma later on. CHAPTER 5 FINALLY UP.
1. Fire in the Garden

Daughter of the Fire

By Adaia Swordmaiden

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Children of the Red King series. But I do own Adaia and the plot.

**Chapter 1: Fire in the garden**

That morning a cold breeze swept through the street, colder than it should at that time of year. But no-one noticed it. Most the people who lived in the street were still asleep as it was extremely early; the stars were dim but still visible in the grey sky. The stars soon faded though and, as the sun began to rise, a boy looked out his window, staring at the point where the sun was rising. The sun had half risen when a glint of red caught his eye, like the red of a flame. He glanced down to where the glint had been and saw, to his amazement, a girl, about his age and clothed in rags, lying curled up against the front wall of his house. Her tangled, dark red hair was what had glinted in the growing sunlight and caught his eye. He stared at her for a moment and then rushed downstairs, his door banging shut. He raced outside and stood staring at the girl. She was thin and dark skinned, though there was an unhealthy tinge of white to her face. As he watched, the girl shifted and let out a soft moan but her eyes didn't open. The boy rushed back in, running into a middle-aged man.

"What is it, Charlie?" the man asked, seeing the frightened, amazed look on the boy's face.

"Uncle Paton!" Charlie said hurriedly. "Quick, there's a girl outside and I think she's sick!" Paton and Charlie hurried outside to find the girl standing up, one hand against the wall for support, her head low. She started and raised her head, crouching as if ready to fight, and they saw her eyes, large and mismatched, the left eye a wolfish yellow, the other a dark blood-red. She bared her teeth and glared at the two as they stared at her, amazed.

"Stay away!" the girl snarled and her eyes seemed to be leaping flames. Paton took a step towards her and she took a step back, snarling. Suddenly, Paton leaped back with a cry as his coat hem began to burn fiercely. He stamped it out and the two stared at the girl. Her face suddenly blanched. She stood up and turned as if to run but her legs failed her and she crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Paton suddenly walked towards her and picked her up, carrying her inside the house, Charlie half running to keep up with his uncle's strides. He put her on the couch just as an older woman came in, dressed in a pink dressing-gown. She gasped as she saw the girl and glanced at Charlie and Paton.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Charlie found her outside," Paton said with a strange look on his face, as if he knew something but wasn't telling. The older woman hurried forward and felt the girl's forehead.

"She's got a high fever. Paton, go and get a cold, wet towel," she instructed. Paton nodded and hurried out of the room to the kitchen. Charlie hovered around his grandmother and the girl. "Charlie, go and wake your mother. She needs to know." Charlie nodded and hurried up the stairs just as Paton returned with a wet towel.

"Here, Maisie," he said as he handed her the towel. She placed it on the girl's forehead. The girl's eyes suddenly flew open and she let out a yell when she saw Maisie and Paton staring at her. They drew back in shock and she leaped up, the unhealthy pallor in her face gone.

"Who are you?" she demanded, glancing from one to the other, her queer eyes showing fear and defiance. "Tell me or I'll burn the house down!"

"I'm Paton Yewbeam and this is Maisie Jones," Paton said hurriedly. "We aren't going to hurt you." But the girl didn't relax.

"Who was the boy who was with you before?"

"That was my grandson, Charlie Bone," Maisie said. Just then, Charlie and his mother came in. They froze when they saw the girl. Maisie ignored them. "You look hungry. Would you like some breakfast?" The girl glanced between her and the other people in the room and eventually nodded, standing up straight again.

"Ok," she said. Her voice sounded friendly but her eyes showed obvious wariness. Maisie then turned and began to lead the way towards the kitchen. After a moment's hesitation, the girl began to follow. They all went into the kitchen except Paton who went upstairs to his room. Charlie and the girl sat down at the table while Maisie and Charlie's mum began making breakfast.

"What's your name?" Charlie asked. "Mine's Charlie Bone."

"Adaia," she replied. "I don't know my last name." Charlie stared at her a moment and then lowered his gaze. Until breakfast came, they were all silent. Adaia muttered 'Thank you' when Maisie placed a large plate of bacon, eggs and sausages before her before tucking in, eating as if she hadn't eaten for weeks. Soon after she had finished, before anyone else, an old woman wearing a dark dressing gown and with long white hair came in, stopping as she saw Adaia.

"Who's this?" she demanded, staring at her.

"Grandma Bone, this is Adaia. We found her outside," Charlie said. Grandma Bone stared at Adaia a moment and then sat down at the table. Charlie quickly finished off his breakfast and got up, going out and up the stairs. A little bit later he came back downstairs. "I'm going over to Benjamin's," he said, pausing outside the kitchen before going out the front door. Adaia sat slumped in her chair, not seeming to be noticing anything but really glancing at everyone, thinking, wondering. Everyone was soon finished and Grandma Bone went back upstairs.

"Can I help?" Adaia asked, going over to the sink filled with dirty dishes. Maisie nodded and handed her a tea-towel.

"So how did you come to be outside our house?" Maisie asked.

"I don't know," Adaia replied. "The first thing I remember is waking up and seeing Paton and Charlie." Maisie saw that she didn't really want to talk about that and so was silent.

"We'll have to get you some better clothes," Maisie commented as they finished doing the dishes. "I'll see if we have some which will fit you that you can wear until we can buy you a new set."

"Thank you," Adaia said as she put away the last of the plates. She then went into the living room until Maisie came in with some clothes and took her to the bathroom where she could get washed and changed. She came out with her hair brushed and washed, so dark now that it almost looked black and wearing a clean t-shirt and pair of shorts that were slightly too big for her.

"I'm afraid you'll have to sleep on the couch," Maisie said when Adaia came out. "We don't have any other beds."

"That's ok. I think I've slept on worse," Adaia said dryly.

A/N: first Red King fanfic and I've only been able to borrow the Time Twister so please be easy on me.


	2. Fire in the Hand

Daughter of the Fire

By Adaia Swordmaiden

Disclaimer: It's all Jenny Nimmo's.

**Chapter 2: Fire in the hand**

Charlie came back at lunchtime, followed by a small, pale-faced boy with hair like wet hay and a large dog with hair the same colour as the small boy. Adaia was in the kitchen when they came in and the small boy stared at her for a moment. The dog, however, bounded forward and began trying to lick the girl to pieces. She laughed and knelt on the ground, rubbing the dog's tummy.

"Adaia, this is Benjamin Brown," Charlie said. "Benjamin, this is Adaia. And this is Runner Bean."

"Hi," Adaia said, standing up and offering her hand to shake with Benjamin. He grinned and shook hands.

"Where're my mum and Maisie?" Charlie asked. Adaia shrugged.

"I don't know," she said. "Do you want to fix up lunch?" Charlie nodded.

"If you want," he said. "I'll help." Soon later, the three children were all eating sandwiches and baked beans. "I'll be going back to Bloor's after next week," Charlie said glumly.

"What's Bloor's?"

"It's my school."

"Ok." There was silence for a bit.

"Where do you go to school?" Benjamin asked.

"I don't know," Adaia replied flatly. "I don't remember anything except my name." Benjamin stared at him, his mouth open.

"Wow. Poor you," he said. She shrugged.

"It's ok. If I had a bad life, at least I don't know about it," she said, playing with her baked beans. "Did you tell him how you and Paton found me, Charlie?" Charlie nodded.

"Did you make Paton's coat catch on fire?" Charlie suddenly asked after Benjamin. She shrugged.

"Yeah. I thought that you guys were dangerous and I knew how to protect myself so I did," she said. She looked up. "Why?"

"I think you're endowed," Charlie said.

"What's that?"

"If you're endowed, then you have a special power. I'm endowed as well. I think your endowment is that you can do stuff with fire."

"What's your endowment?"

"I can hear the words and thoughts of people in photographs and paintings. Sometimes I can even go into the photos or paintings." Adaia was silent for a moment. Then she raised her head and lifted her hand and stared at it. A flame suddenly was held clasped in her hand. Charlie stared at it, amazed and then it went out. Adaia shook her head.

"I can't hold it for too long. It's really tiring." She caught glimpse of someone standing in the kitchen doorway and looked to see Grandma Bone, staring at her with a very strange look on her face. Charlie turned to see her and Grandma Bone recovered herself.

"Has that horrible dog and his owner been here?" she asked, sniffing.

"Yes, Benjamin and Runner Bean have been here," Charlie said. The old woman then turned and left. Charlie turned back to Adaia. "I think she saw you," he said. Adaia nodded slowly, slightly confused.

"What's so bad about that?" she asked. Charlie then began to tell her how his endowment had been discovered and all the adventures he had had while at Bloor's, from saving Emma Tolly to saving Ollie Sparks. By the time the tale was finished, Adaia was wide-eyed in amazement. "Wow…" was all she could say at the end. "What happened to the boa?"

"I don't know. Mr Onimous must still have it at the Pet's Café." A little while later, Charlie's mum returned. She had been grocery shopping and had also bought Adaia a new set of clothes. Dinner was spaghetti with bolognaise sauce. After dinner, Maisie set up a make-shift bed for Adaia on the couch. Soon it was time for bed and, after a thousand 'thank you's for everything from Adaia, she snuggled down on the couch. But she couldn't get to sleep. All the questions she had wanted to ask that day were flooding her mind and keeping her wide awake. After about an hour of restless tossing, she went outside, walking down the road. She came to a small park and sat down on the bench. After a quick glance around to check that no-one was around, she stared at her hand until a small flame arose, flickering and dancing. She frowned in concentration and the flame rose up into the air. She kept it there for a moment and then extinguished it. Then she tried again. She didn't know why she was practicing. It just seemed as if she needed to, needed to master it, to be able to control the fire. After quite a few tries she managed to hold it in the air without much effort. She tried to make it grow but it wouldn't obey. She was too tired. She began to walk back down the street to Charlie's house. As she was climbing up the front steps, the glass from a nearby streetlight fell to the ground and shattered. Adaia turned and stared at the light and looked all around but she didn't notice the shadowed figure that stood underneath a tree by the streetlight, his black coat, burnt away at the hem slightly, blending perfectly with the dark wood. Adaia shrugged and crept back inside the house, snuggling back down on her couch-bed and falling quickly to sleep.

A/N: many thankies to Lyra Parry and Chaos-Fyre-Elf31 who are my first reviewers for this ficcy! hands cookies thankies to both of you. as for the rest of you - dum dee dum, R & R!


	3. Flame Girl

Daughter of the Fire

By Adaia Swordmaiden

Disclaimer: What do I put here again?

**Chapter 3: Flame girl**

Adaia woke with the sunrise, at first wondering where she was and then recalling the events of the day before. She got up, going to the window and watching the sun rise above the houses. She then went to sit in the kitchen, making herself some toast as she was starving. As she was washing up the plate she had used, Maisie came downstairs.

"Oh, hello, Adaia," she said, smiling at her. "Sleep well?"

"Yes," Adaia replied, half telling the truth. After her little trip to the park she had slept well. "Shall I help with breakfast? I've already had mine."

"Yes, thank you." Today's breakfast was porridge with syrup and brown sugar. During breakfast, Paton came down. Adaia could tell that this was unusual, judging by the others' expressions.

"Adaia," he began, after breakfast. "Do you remember anything? I mean, before yesterday morning?"

"All I remember is my name and the events from yesterday morning up until now," she replied truthfully.

"Any names or people?" Paton persisted. Adaia shook her head. He returned to his room after talking a little with Charlie's mother. At lunch, Grandma Bone made a surprising announcement.

"The Yewbeam aunts are coming over to dinner," she said, glancing furtively at Adaia. There were a few questions but Grandma Bone wouldn't say anything more than what time. After that, Charlie and Adaia went over to Benjamin's place, just across the road. Charlie had asked Adaia to come.

"The Yewbeam aunts are coming," Charlie told Benjamin as they all sat in the kitchen. "I think they're here about Adaia." Benjamin's jaw dropped.

"But what would they want with you?" he asked Adaia. She glanced at Charlie.

"It's ok, he knows about my endowment," Charlie said.

"I'm endowed," Adaia then told Benjamin. "I can create and manipulate fire." As a demonstration she summoned up a small flame, making it rise up into the air and then she extinguished it.

"Wow," Benjamin breathed, watching the flame. "I guess they want you at Bloor's."

"I think they know something about me," Adaia said seriously. "Grandma Bone acted really funny when I first met her, judging from what I've been told about her, and when she said that the Yewbeam aunts were coming, she glanced at me."

"Yeah, Uncle Paton's been acting really weird as well," Charlie said. They were all silent.

"Well what should I do?" Adaia asked the two. Benjamin shrugged.

"I guess just try and stay out of trouble when they come. Act normal," he suggested.



They took Runner Bean to the park and talked about other things, mainly Charlie and Benjamin talking and Adaia sitting by a tree and quietly practicing her fire tricks. When it was about ten minutes or so til the Yewbeam aunts arrived, Adaia and Charlie began to head back to Charlie's house. The dining room had been dusted and cleaned. When the aunts finally arrived, Charlie went to open the door. There was a lot of bustling as the aunts came in, tossing their coats and hats on Charlie. Adaia went to help him and the aunts stared at her for a moment before bustling on to the dining room. Soon everyone, even Paton, was sitting at the dining table and eating. After dinner, Adaia tried to help Charlie and his mother and grandmother clear the table, hoping to be free of the furtive glances that kept on being shot at her by Grandma Bone and the Yewbeam aunts, but she was just told to sit down. When Charlie and his mother and grandmother were out of the room, the youngest looking aunt smiled at Adaia and leaned towards her.

"Hello Adaia," she said. "Grizelda has told us that you have a little talent." Adaia tried to keep her face blank.

"What sort of talent?" she asked sweetly.

"An - unusual talent concerning fire." Adaia fixed a look of puzzlement on her face.

"Pardon? I don't have any unusual talents." The aunts glanced at each other just as Charlie and his mother and grandmother came back into the room. They were all but Charlie shooed away.

"Charlie, could you please go to the door? A friend of ours is waiting outside. Invite him inside. He wanted to meet Adaia," the white-haired aunt commanded. Charlie glanced at Adaia and Paton before going out of the room to the front door. After a few moments Charlie returned, a look of disgust and slight fear on his face and a teenager, more of a young man, in tow. The young man had coal-black hair, a long, narrow face and a pathetic moustache. He smiled at the Yewbeam aunts as he entered, not looking at Adaia. "Adaia, this is Manfred Bloor," the white-haired aunt said. Manfred then turned to look at Adaia, smiling strangely. She smiled back, staring at his coal-black eyes. After a moment, his smile dropped from his face and he turned back to the Yewbeam aunts.

"She's like that albino boy. It's her red eye," he said as if Adaia wasn't there. The Yewbeam aunts and Grandma Bone's smiles dropped from their faces. Manfred sat at the table, staring at Adaia. She cracked.

"Ok, what the hell in going on here?" she demanded.

"We're only trying to find some truth," said the grey-haired aunt said. "All you need to do is tell us if you are endowed or not."

"Oh yeah? Well how about I give you more than just telling you?" she snarled aggressively. The Yewbeam aunts, Manfred and Grandma Bone all laughed scornfully while Paton and Charlie shot warning looks at Adaia.

"A little flame floating in the air won't scare us," Manfred sneered.

"Is that all I can do? I think not!" Adaia cried, fire suddenly encasing her body. All at the table yelled or screamed, leaping away from the furious, flaming girl. The fire then died down and Adaia looked triumphant. There wasn't a scorch-mark in sight. "Just watch out," she said. Then she turned and strode out of the room, out of the house and down the road to the park. Soon after, she saw the Yewbeam aunts walking down the street. A little behind them was Manfred Bloor, walking with a boy with red hair, bright and carrot coloured rather than Adaia's dark red hair. The red-headed boy looked in her direction and she saw his eyes, yellow and wolfish like her left eye.

A/N: many thankies to Lyra Parry who has not only reveiwed again but has also added me to her fave authors list! yay! thows cookies to the masses ignoring Addy Swordy as for the ignoring masses, a little song to try and get your attention on any of my stroies.

Praise me glory, dum dee dum,

Flame me into days to come,

I don't really care what you do,

Just as long as you review!

©ASword.

also, who thinks I should do an Inkheart fanfic?


	4. First day of School

Daughter of the Fire

By Adaia Swordmaiden

Disclaimer: …you know the drill...

**Chapter 4: First day of school**

Charlie soon turned up at the park.

"You really showed them," he said with a dry laugh. "But now they say you've got to go to Bloor's."

"What!" Adaia exclaimed. Charlie nodded. "Well there's no way I'm going!"

"Please, if you don't, they might think that we told you that you shouldn't and then we'll be in big trouble," Charlie said, half begging. "They own our house and pay all the bills. We don't have enough money." Adaia looked at Charlie, her eyes wide.

"What?" she said. "And your mother bought me new clothes and everything when you need your aunts to pay for everything else!" She suddenly felt a pang of guilt. "Ok. I'll go. But only because I don't want your family to get in trouble because of me." Charlie nodded, relieved.

"Thank you." They headed back to his house and Adaia immediately told Charlie's family that she was going to Bloor's. They all looked surprised but accepted it. They treated her a little more warily that night until she couldn't take it any more.

"Look, I'm not going to burn the house down," she said to them. "I was just so furious at how they were treating me." After that, she was treated as just a friend who was staying over. The week passed fairly quickly, a sapphire blue cape and a flute arriving in the mail from the aunts. After much suspicion and prodding and poking at the articles, Charlie, Paton and Adaia were satisfied that the flute was not going to blow up when it was played and the cape was not going to strangle anyone when put on.



Soon it was time for Charlie and Adaia to go to Bloor's. A taxi came and Charlie's mum and the two children all piled in. When they got to the school, Charlie's mum kissed him and said goodbye to them both before going back to the taxi. Charlie led the way towards the school, saying hello to various people on the way. A boy with shiny brown hair came over to walk with them.

"Hi, Charlie. Who's this?" the boy said as he came up to them. He turned to Adaia. "I'm Fidelio Gunn."

"Adaia. Pyro," she added, remembering the last name she had been instructed to use.

"She's a distant relative. She's staying with my family," Charlie said quickly. Fidelio nodded knowingly. A girl wearing a purple cape with short, spiky, red-dyed hair and yellow platform shoes came up to them.

"Hi Olivia," Charlie said. "This is Adaia Pyro. She's staying with my family." Olivia nodded knowingly as Fidelio had a moment before.

"Olivia Vertigo," she said, sticking out her hand to shake. Adaia grinned at her and shook hands. Then the four went into the school where there was no talking or laughing at all. Fidelio, Charlie and Adaia all went one way, towards the musicians' cloakroom, while Olivia went off towards the drama cloakroom. Once there, Adaia was shown her locker and then they all went into the oak-panelled assembly hall. After the assembly, Charlie and Adaia went off to their first lesson with Mr Paltry who taught wind. Once the lesson was over, Charlie led the way first to the cloakroom and then to a huge field around which children were running. Fidelio and Charlie ran together but they were going too slow for Adaia's liking so she went ahead on her own. After a little, she was joined by another girl with large grey eyes and long fair hair. Adaia grinned at the girl.

"Hi. I'm Emma Tolly," the girl said. "I expect Charlie's told you about me."

"Yeah he did. I'm Adaia Pyro," Adaia replied. "If you don't mind me asking, what's it like to be hypnotised? Manfred tried to do it to me but he said something about not being able to because of my eyes."

"Well, it's like you're half asleep," Emma said. "You don't really act like you anymore and when you wake up, you can barely remember a thing." She glanced at Adaia. "Oh, you've got a red eye. There's another boy in music called Billy Raven. He's an albino and his eyes are red. Manfred can't hypnotise him either." They ran on in silence for a little bit, thinking.

"You're endowed, aren't you? You can fly or something?" Adaia asked. Emma nodded.

"Yeah. I kinda turn into a bird and then I can fly. What about you? Are you endowed?"

"Yep. I can do stuff fire. I'm not very good at it unless I get angry."

"Charlie told me about that. You must have seriously freaked them out." By then they had to go back indoors for their next lesson.



After supper, Charlie started to lead Adaia in a different direction than everyone else was going.

"Where are we going?" Adaia asked as they hurried up a staircase.

"The Red King's room," Charlie replied as they came to a stop before a huge black set of doors. "All the endowed children work in there during homework time." They went in to find hardly anyone else in the room. Only Emma and a tall older boy with large eyes and electric yellow hair that stood up as if electricity was running through it were in the room. Emma grinned at Adaia as they came in. Charlie went to sit with Emma and the electric looking boy.

"Do we have to start homework straight away?" Adaia asked. The older boy shook his head.

"Not until Manfred and the others get here," he said. Adaia's face hardened and her eyes gleamed with dislike at Manfred's name, remembering how he had laughed at her threats before. "I'm Tancred Torsson."

"Adaia Pyro. I'm going to practice," Adaia replied, going and sitting in the corner of the room, starting her little practice of making the flame, moving it and making it grow. By the time Manfred arrived, a small boy who had white hair and red eyes the same as Adaia's right eye who was introduced as Billy Raven, a dark skinned boy called Lysander Sage, a long boy with long, floppy, mousy hair introduced as Gabriel Silk and a bunch of others whose names were not told had already arrived. Adaia just stayed sitting in the corner until the door opened and Manfred walked in, followed by the red-haired boy with the wolfish yellow eyes.

"Where's Adaia Pyro?" he demanded. Adaia stood up and walked over to the table, a flame floating by her shoulder.

"Here," she said carelessly, smiling at Manfred. He glared at her but she stared back so hard and fiercely that he eventually looked away. Adaia then quietly got out her books and began working. When the clock in the corner chimed 8 o'clock, Manfred said that they could go and then left, followed as before by the red-headed boy. "Who's that boy?" Adaia asked Charlie as they packed away their books.

"Asa Pike. He's a were-beast," Charlie replied. "He can turn into almost any type of creature after dusk." They then began to head back to the blue cloakroom, Charlie going off to one of the boys' dorms and Adaia going into one of the girls'. She had asked a couple of girls in the cloakroom and dorms and eventually found out which dorm and bed was hers. She quickly put her stuff away and got ready for bed. When she had just lain down, the girl on the bed next to her reached across and shook her elbow.

"You're one of the endowed ones, aren't you?" she asked her face curious. Adaia nodded and grinned at her. "My mother was endowed but I lucked out. What's your endowment?"

"I can do stuff with fire like fireballs," Adaia replied, sitting up. "I'm Adaia Pyro."

"I'm Mira Woods. Could you show me?" A couple of other girls had come over and were watching hopefully.

"Ok." She raised her hand and stared at it, a flame appearing quickly. The girls who were watching gasped as the flame floated up into the air and began to grow until it was the size of a small melon. Then it began to flatten out, becoming a sheet of fire and then a balloon that floated down towards the bed, extinguishing a moment before it touched the blankets.

"Wow!" Mira breathed. "That's amazing!"

"Silence!" a harsh voice said and the lights were switched out. The girls all scurried to their beds before the door closed and the dormitory was plunged into darkness. Adaia rolled over. Her little fire display had drained her of energy. The part where she had been transforming the fire was the real draining part. She had been able to do more and more every time but it was always so exhausting. A moment later, she was fast asleep.

A/N: thanks, Lyra Parry. the only reason I update fast is because I have most of this pre-written. I'll start thinking about an Inkheart fanfic. hands Lyra the customary cyber cookie


	5. Pet's Cafe and Flames

Daughter of the Fire

By Adaia Swordmaiden

Disclaimer: yawn Cant be bothered to do this part. 'Sides, you know it already.

**Chapter 5: Pet's Café and Flames**

The rest of the week passed without any trouble though Manfred seemed to try and find a reason to get her in detention every study time in the Red King's room. But she always got out of it, with some thanks to Charlie and Emma. Then the weekend came and the huge entrance doors were finally opened, the students who didn't have detention pouring outside. Charlie's mum met Charlie and Adaia at the same point that she had left them and they all piled into a taxi. When they got to Charlie's house, Adaia was welcomed by Maisie with a big hug. This made her feel slightly uncomfortable but the feeling was ignored. A feast had been laid out in the kitchen and everyone, excepting Paton, tucked in. By the time the feast was finished, it was the time that was usually bed-time but Charlie's mum said that they could stay up for a lot longer as the next day was Saturday. Charlie went up to his room but Adaia snuck out of the house, not know if she'd be told that she wasn't to go out at that time of night. She went down to the park and sat in one of the trees, doing her fire exercises. She could now easily change the form of the fire and now she was trying to change its colour. She could only manage a weak pink at first but soon she was changing the colour with only a little effort. She let out a laugh as a purple fire dragon flew and twisted through the air before her. She heard a loud meow and looked down to see a copper red cat sitting beneath the tree, staring up at her. Adaia smiled and climbed out of the tree. By the time she had reached the ground, an orange cat and a yellowy cat had joined their fellow. She sat down on the ground and began to stroke the cats as they rubbed up against her and purred.

"The flames seem to like you a lot," came a man's voice from behind her. Adaia sprang up, spinning to face the strange man who had spoken. "Orvil Onimous. I believe Charlie's told you about me?"

"Oh so you're Mr Onimous!" she exclaimed. "Sorry. Are these the flames?" She indicated at the three cats which were now weaving themselves around her legs. Mr Onimous nodded.

"I was hoping that you'd come by the Pet's Café tomorrow. Please ask Charlie to bring his uncle and some of his endowed friends," the strange man said. "Don't forget to bring a pet." And he turned to leave, walking extremely fast with the flame cats trailing after him. Adaia stared after him for a moment before turning and walking down the street towards Charlie's house. Half-way there, she ran into Paton who was striding along the sidewalk.

"Ah, Adaia," he said as he came up to her. "We were wondering where you were." They began to walk back and Adaia told him about her meeting with Mr Onimous and the flames. As they came to the house, Paton stopped, digging in his pocket. "I found this by the wall where Charlie and I found you," he said, pulling out a golden necklace. It had a queer, flame-shaped pendant on the end, made of some red, see-through stone with swirls of gold through it. Adaia took it and stared at it a moment before stuffing it in her pocket.

"Thanks," she said as they climbed the steps to the house and went inside. Charlie was watching TV and Maisie and Charlie's mother were in the kitchen. Paton said that he'd turn up at the Pet's Café and, after explaining why she had gone off, Adaia went to watch a movie with Charlie. She told him about her run in with Mr Onimous and the movie was soon forgotten.

"We'll go around to Emma's and call Tancred, Lysander and Gabriel," Charlie said. "And we'll have to find you a pet."

"Hey, what's Gabriel's endowment? Isn't it he can tell things about people by wearing something they wore?" Adaia asked, drawing the necklace out of her pocket and fingering the pendant.

"Yeah, that's what he does. Hey, what's that?"

"Paton gave it to me. He said he had found it in the same spot you two found me." Then Adaia let out a large yawn. "Oh, sorry. I've been practicing my fire tricks. It always makes me tired." Soon after that, Adaia was fast asleep on the couch, the necklace clasped loosely in her hand.

The next morning, Adaia woke later than usual, though still before Charlie. Breakfast was as grand as dinner and just as heartily eaten. After lunch, Charlie called Lysander, Gabriel and Tancred, telling them to meet him and Adaia at the Pet's Café. Then they went over to Emma's place, a bookshop by the cathedral. They went inside and a middle-aged woman with thick chestnut hair looked up and smiled at them.

"Oh hello Charlie," she said, walking out from behind the counter. "And you must be Adaia. I'm Julia Ingledew."

"Hi," Adaia said.

"Hi Miss Ingledew," Charlie said. "Is Emma here?"

"I think she's upstairs. I'll go get her," Miss Ingledew said and began to head through a door at the back of the shop. After a little bit, Emma came down, followed by her aunt.

"Hi," Emma said. "What's up?" Adaia quickly told her about meeting Mr Onimous and the meeting at the Pet's Café. Emma then hurried out the back and returned with a mynah bird in a cage. "He used to be kept in the shop but the customers kept on getting their fingers pecked because they all wanted to pat him," she explained as they started to walk towards the Pet's Café. As Charlie had asked, Gabriel was waiting at the corner just before the Café with an extra gerbil for Charlie. He also had a kitten that looked rather like a leopard on a leash.

"Tachete is for Adaia," Gabriel explained as they came up to him. "Lysander found her on the street and is looking for a home for her." Adaia took the kitten and picked it up.

"She's adorable!" she said as they walked round the corner to the Pet's Café. After showing the bouncer their pets and gaining entrance, they walked around and over the various rabbits, dogs, cats and birds that were in the room and creating a terrible racket til they came to the counter behind which Mr Onimous was standing.

"Ah, there you are," he said, smiling. "Come round the back. Mr Yewbeam and Mrs Onimous are there." They went out the back where they found Paton and Mrs Onimous drinking tea and talking. They looked over to the door where the six children were standing.

"Come in, come in," Mrs Onimous urged them and they all came in, sitting on the various chairs around the table Paton and Mrs Onimous were sitting at. A moment later, during which several large slices of chocolate appeared and began to disappear, Mr Onimous appeared and sat down after getting himself a cup of tea.

"Now, what we are about to tell you concerns all of you but most of all Adaia. We've worked it all out from various documents and- happenings," Mr Onimous said seriously. The flame cats leaped up onto the table where Tachete, the leopard-like kitten, was sitting. They began to sniff and mew at each other and Mr Onimous stared at them for a moment. "Mr Yewbeam, I think you'd better tell the story from here." Paton nodded and started his story.

**A/N:** aren't cliffies so evil? Sorry I haven't updated in ages - if you've read my note in my bio you should understand. Anyways, on with the honours! Chaos-Fyre-Elf 31 andd Lyra both get cookies as usual and thankies for all the encouragement! Oh and btw, Lyra, it is going to be a Tanc/Adaia! I picked that straight off 'cos I would love to be endowed and have Tanc all to myself! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! lol


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